The Mole (Australian TV series)

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The Mole
Genre Reality
Presented by Grant Bowler
Tom Williams
Shura Taft
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons6
No. of episodes64
Production
Executive producersDavid Mason (Seasons 1-5)
John Leahy (Season 6)
Running time43 minutes
Production company FremantleMedia Australia (2013)
Original release
Network Seven Network
Release27 February 2000 (2000-02-27) 
16 October 2013 (2013-10-16)
Related
The Mole

The Mole an Australian adventure reality game show based on the Belgian TV series The Mole , which has been addapted in other countries.

Contents

Following the premise of other versions of the The Mole format, the show features a group of contestants who must collaborate in a series of missions to win money for a Prize Fund, which serves as the game's grand prize. However, among the group of contestants is the titular "Mole" - a secret double agent hired by the producers to sabotage the money-making efforts of the group whose identity is unknown to the audience and the other players. The genuine contestants must find and follow the behaviour of The Mole during the game and the missions. The contestant who knows the least about The Mole, as determined by the results of a Quiz, is "Terminated" - eliminated from the game. In the end, the player who knows the most about The Mole after participating in the Final Quiz is declared the winner and is awarded the Prize Fund.

The series aired on Seven Network. The series was hosted by actor Grant Bowler in its first four seasons. Tom Williams hosted the fifth season, [1] Shura Taft hosted the sixth season. [2] The first three seasons, as well as the sixth, all took place in Australia, but the fourth and fifth were set in New Caledonia and New Zealand respectively. The first season was produced by Mason Media Group. Seasons two to five were produced by Seven and executive-produced by David Mason. The sixth season was produced by FremantleMedia Australia.

Format

Contestants

Contestants typically meet each other shortly before shooting begins. However, in season six, contestants only met each other as a whole group for the first time upon completion of the first assignment of the season.

Assignments

Each episode features multiple assignments (called "challenges" in season one, and occasionally in the later seasons), of varying size and value, that are worth money to the group kitty (or "pot" in season six) if successfully completed. Some assignments have penalties associated with them if they are failed. The assignments may require physical skill, mental acuity, keen strategy, or all three from the players for them to be successfully completed. In some cases, assignments were not fully explained to all contestants, where only selected contestants were informed of the full nature of the challenge, and must work towards a different goal than the rest.

Some assignments require every member of the team to successfully complete their part for money to be won, while others will assign a value for each individual player to finish. The players are commonly told to separate into several groups, which determines particular roles for an assignment. Assignments often have explicit rules attached to them, with monetary penalties from the pot assessed if they are violated. Rule violations outside the boundaries of an assignment can also cost the team money from the pot, though this is less common.

Quizzes and elimination

At the end of each episode, the players take a multiple-choice test based on the identity of the Mole, asking questions such as "Who is the Mole?". The player who scores the lowest on the quiz each time is eliminated (or, in season six, "terminated") from the game. The length of the computer test varied by season; in season one the quiz was twenty questions. In seasons two and three it was ten questions in length, and in season four it was reduced further to six questions. Season five changed the elimination format slightly given the season's live format. During the live broadcast (from Seven's Martin Place Studios) five questions were asked - four about the Mole's role in challenges the players participated in during the week, with the 5th question being "Who is the Mole?. However, a further five questions on biographical information (such as "What city does the Mole live in?") were asked before the broadcast. The Elimination Ceremony would follow immediately from the live questions as part of the live broadcast. Season 6 returned to a quiz of twenty questions similar to season 1.

The final quiz is normally double the number of questions from the earlier quizzes.

Free Passes (sometimes known as "exemptions" or "immunity") which allows them to automatically progress to the next round without taking the quiz. However, in season six, players who won exemptions would have to defend them in later assignments, or risk losing them. If there was a tie for the lowest score, the player in the tie who took the longest time to take the quiz would be eliminated. Sometimes, contestants are offered the chance to give up their free pass in exchange for a particular amount of money to be added to the kitty; however, they must still take the quiz and remain vulnerable. The host can reveal who is exempt from elimination before the process begins, as by then he or she would have completed the quiz by then (like in seasons 3 and 5). In this case, a contestant would have had to have bid money from the kitty to buy the free pass, with the highest bidder being awarded the exemption.

In season 6 players can also earn "Freebies". If a player chooses to use them, then a question that was answered incorrectly on the quiz will be counted as a correct answer.

Season overview

List of The Mole (Australia) seasons
#SubtitleBroadcast detailsGame detailsResultsHost
EpsPremiereFinaleLocationPlayersThe MoleWinner(s)Runner upPrize Fund
1 10 [a] 27 February 200024 April 2000 Tasmania 10Alan MasonJan Moody Abby Coleman $115,000 / $200,000 Grant Bowler
2 21 February 200125 April 2001 Victoria 16 [b] Michael Laffy Brooke MarshallHal Pritchard$100,000 / $200,000
3 10 [c] 20 February 200224 April 2002 Gold Coast 12Alaina TaylorCrystal-Rose CluffMarc Jongebloed$108,000 / $300,000
4 In Paradise10 [d] 27 July 200328 September 2003 New Caledonia 10Petrina EdgeShaun FaulknerNathan Beves$104,000 / $500,000
5 The Amazing Game1025 August 200528 October 2005 New Zealand 12John Whitehall Liz Cantor Craig Murell$203,000 / $500,000 Tom Williams
6 - [e] 212 July 201316 October 2013 Australia 12Erin DooleyHillal Kara-AliAisha Jefcoate$180,000 / $250,000 Shura Taft
Notes
  1. These seasons also featured a reunion special as the 10th episode.
  2. Of the 16 players, six would be eliminated in a special qualification challenge to determine the Final 10 players.
  3. This does not include a special recap episode.
  4. A working subtitle & theme for the season was Culture Clash, which was teased and used at the Network's upfronts, but this was abandoned in production and airing.

Locations map

Oceania laea location map.svg
Locations of the Australian version of The Mole (season 6 did not remain in one single location hence no location is given).

Awards

Logie Awards:

Notable contestants and statistics

References

  1. Bucklow, Andrew (30 June 2017). "A phone call into Merrick and Rosso's radio show changed Tom Williams' life". news.com.au. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  2. Richards, Holly (25 June 2013). "Deceptively good Mole returns". The West Australian . Retrieved 21 September 2022.